AFP
Maui County Emergency Management administrator Herman Andaya, criticised by native residents and media over the island’s response to the lethal wildfires that killed not less than 111 folks, has resigned.
A press release from Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen cited well being causes.
“Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon,” he stated.
The resignation takes place sooner or later after Andaya made his first look in a press convention, which got here greater than every week after the disaster destroyed or broken 2,200 buildings and induced some $5.5 billion in injury. Hundreds of individuals stay unaccounted for.
Some Maui residents stated lives may have been saved had emergency sirens sounded, however Andaya’s company opted in opposition to utilizing them, saying they might have been ineffective and complicated.
“The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren is sounded,” Andaya stated throughout Wednesday’s press convention, which grew tense at instances as reporters questioned the federal government response in the course of the hearth.
“Had we sounded the siren that night, we’re afraid that people would have gone mauka (to the mountainside) and if that was the case then they would have gone into the fire,” Andaya stated.
